


Bluff

by LittleGooseWalking



Series: The Adventures of Clint and Natasha in the Avengers Tower [11]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Team Bonding, implied threesome, typical Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-30
Updated: 2013-02-12
Packaged: 2017-11-27 12:57:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/662250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleGooseWalking/pseuds/LittleGooseWalking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps this wouldn’t have happened if Steve had taken the stairs. He was currently staring wide eyed at the two assassins who were none the wiser about his presence. Again. </p><p>Semi-sequel to Voyuer in the Gym (first in the series)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bluff

**Author's Note:**

> One of my longer oneshots, and for those who wanted Steve back, here you go :D Mini reference to Voyeur in the Gym (the first oneshot in this series for those who have just joined us :D ) & Elevator Escapades.

**Bluff**

 

Steve had played poker a few times back in his day. But then it was usually for money and not chores. Pepper had decided early on that each Avenger had to do a set amount of chores since they had scared off the last four maids she had hired.

Poker was usually a somewhat silent game, with the occasional smart remark or quip; playing with Tony meant it was guaranteed to be a loud game.

Tony sat next to Steve trying to teach him how to play despite being told he already knew; Thor had stopped paying attention and kept yelling ‘LIAR’ at the top of his voice when someone bluffed. He claimed it was a most dishonourable game, but held no problem when he won. Bruce sat silently next to Thor, followed by Clint, with Natasha between him and Steve. Pepper had chosen not to stay after Tony had gotten loud and obnoxious. Besides, Steve knew she had things to do.

“Should we be drinking? We should drink when we lose. Let’s spice this up!” Tony declared.

He made his way to the bar and filling tumblers with the drinks shouted at him from the rest of the group. Balancing the glasses, he handed them out.

“Hey, what about me?” Natasha complained.

“I didn’t forget. I just didn’t have hands for a bottle.” He laughed.

At the bar, he pulled out a bottle of vodka.

“I knew there was a reason I came tonight.” She eagerly took the bottle from him.

By midnight they were all pleasantly buzzed.

As Tony rattled on about his latest project, Steve took a moment to look at their dysfunctional group of heroes. Thor was trying to peak at everyone else’s cards; Tony had his poker face on: a.k.a. not paying attention to his cards at all but still somehow winning, and Bruce was looking bored.

He became confused when he glanced at Clint; he was flushed, but it was so slight that Steve doubted any of the others had noticed it. Clint was never flushed. Maybe the alcohol had gotten to him?

Steve snuck another glance at Natasha who held the same smirk/poker-face she always wore but this one had a new edge to it.

He didn’t think much of it until he dropped a card onto the floor. When he bent to pick it up he finally understood. Natasha was bare footed and one was placed in Clint’s lap. It explained why she was seated on an angle in her chair. Steve didn’t stay down long enough to want to see what she was doing. He may have been a 1940s man but he could still figure out what was happening.

When he came back up he could feel his face burning and when he looked at Natasha she just smirked at him.

He tried to ignore the flush of heat that ran through his body, for he knew where their night was heading. Ever since the gym he’d been careful not to be alone in the same room with them. They were calm about everything but he sure as hell wasn’t. He wasn’t use to such things, he wasn’t accustomed to such public displays of . . . this wasn’t affection was it? Lust maybe? Whatever it was all it did was make Steve think about the other time and everything that happened.

Before he could think about it any further Natasha sat up straight, and from the sideways glance at Clint he knew they were up to something.

She folded, placing her cards down and moving to stand.

“What? We only just got started!” Tony protested.

“I’m bored and you’re cheating anyway. Besides I’ve got some movies Jarvis has waiting for me.”

Steve noticed that both Clint and Tony watched her as she left. He wasn’t sure whose thoughts would be the dirtiest but both had their eyes firmly stuck on her backside.

After she had left the room, Clint turned to Tony. “You’re counting the cards again aren’t you?”

“What! Me! That’s an outrageous claim that is fully supported by the fact that I am winning.”

Steve raised the bet, throwing in his laundry and vacuuming chores. He was bluffing (the best he had was two fours) but if Tony was cheating then it didn’t matter. Steve was only really playing for the social aspect of it.

Tony called Steve’s bluff and once cards were shown Tony whooped in excitement and shoved the pile of paper chores away from him. “Take them!”

The chores were distributed, with Clint taking the ones for Natasha. She wouldn’t know if he swapped his ‘take out the garbage’ for her ‘washing dishes’.

Clint then got up, making for the door.

“Legolas? You not gonna stay?”

“Nah, I’ve got work to do.”

“That’s a bad bluff, Robin Hood! We know who you’re really doing.” Tony said, and Steve wasn’t sure whether Clint just ignored him or didn’t hear.

“Are we playing again?” Tony asked the remaining Avengers.

“It is late; I believe it is time for me to return to Lady Jane. Thank you Man of Iron for introducing me to your custom.” Even at night, Thor still hadn’t grasped the concept of an ‘inside voice’.

“Not a custom, Thor. A game. For fun.”

“I enjoyed this game very much. I wish to participate again tomorrow.”

“How about I teach you some new ones, yeah?” Tony offered. There were only so many chores to do. Maybe they could play with M&Ms. Steve didn’t hang around after that. There was no point since Bruce and Tony had started drifting the topic of conversation towards inventions and creating stretchy pants for the Hulk.

Steve was silent in walking back to the elevator. It was a weave of corridors that he still got lost in.

He froze to the spot. Perhaps this wouldn’t have happened if he had taken the stairs, but he was currently staring wide eyed at the two assassins who were none the wiser about his presence. Again.

Steve tried to do that subtle cough that people did to announce their presence but it came out as more of a choking cough. They weren’t startled. Of course not. They were assassins.

“Hey, Steve.” Natasha smiled at him casually, as if she hadn’t been pinned roughly to the wall with her legs wrapped possessively around the archer’s waist.

Barton just smirked as if he _had_ been leaving hickeys down her neck as his hand massaged her breast under her shirt.

Steve’s eyes darted to the elevator behind them as it opened as if on cue. Silently, they gathered inside; Clint pushing the buttons for his and Steve’s floor.

Steve could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. Just _being_ in an elevator with those two made him flustered. He should have taken the stairs.

In his peripheral vision he could see Clint’s hand wondering up Natasha, stroking her arm, her eyes glazed over, lips parted. Steve felt bad for interrupting them . . . again.

“Do you remember our conversation in the gym? When you saw us?” Natasha asked him. Her voice was soft enough that it didn’t startle him out of his thoughts.

 

_“Steve, you don’t have to be embarrassed.” She interrupted him,_

_“Yes, yes I do, and you should be angry. I shouldn’t have been here. It was rude and very disrespectful of me to watch.”_

_“It’s okay, really.” The sincerity in her voice shocked him._

 

“I meant it, Steve. You’re allowed to be curious, and it’s okay to get flustered by these things. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed.”

“No, I should. It’s not proper—”

“Screw proper, Steve.” She said calmly. “Have you ever done something because you wanted to, because the urge to do it was so powerful that proper and improper couldn’t stop you?”

Steve shook his head.

“I don’t want to come between you two. I know you’ve told Stark that it’s nothing, I still don’t—”

“We’ve already talked about it. A fair bit actually.”

“Do you trust us?” Clint asked him, making Steve realise that he held the same intensity in his eyes as Natasha did.

Again, Steve nodded.

“You don’t have to fondue,” and Steve could swear she was teasing him slightly by the smirk she gave him. “But we can show you a few things. We know it must be hard, adjusting to all this, and unlike Stark, we won’t embarrass you while trying to help you adjust.”

Steve knew exactly what she was talking about. Tony had a habit of getting near-piss-drunk and doing humiliating things. His worst to date was when he gladly announced to the woman he was pushing onto Steve that he was a virgin, followed by many analogies and variations of the term. The woman had taken pity on Steve, not knowing his actual standing on ‘fondue’ and assuming he had just never found “the one”, when in fact his one was trapped years in the past waiting for him to take her dancing. Pity was something Steve couldn’t stand, and it had taken him a moment to realise that what Nat and Clint were offering, that their expressions and intentions were not that of pity, but of support and true desire to assist Steve in the one thing he was still trying to figure out himself.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad offer. He had gotten use to the brazen displays of affection (though his blushing response had missed that memo), and the idea of sex being part of everyday culture. After everything that had happened in the gym, he wasn’t surprised that they were comfortable with this.

“Come on.”

Maybe taking the elevator wasn’t such a bad idea after all.


	2. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finds out. Simple as that. But things don't go as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be a double chapter upload but I’ve had internet problems and this was the only one I could get onto my phone to use its internet to upload, so hopefully when all is good you’ll have my Valentine’s day oneshot up before Thursday :D  
> This one is a bit more Tony-centric, a bit into his mind and workings. It may be a bit out of character because I haven’t written Tony’s character like this before.  
> Technically I’d make this part two of Bluff, just for closure so we can move on and away from Steve.

**DATE NIGHT**

 

Tony Stark was a man who relied on knowing things about everyone. May it be things they never intended anyone else to know, or not, he would somehow find it. He liked the blackmail material and now that he had permanent residents in his tower, blackmail was all he had really. Which is why he couldn’t believe what he heard. Jarvis, being as un-Tony-like as possible, had prevented access to the security footage for the room because “ _Sir, there is no emergency that I detect and I believe that your intentions with that footage would not please Miss Romanoff, Mr Barton or Mr Rogers.”_ Damn smart ass computer. Tony sometimes wondered why he ever made Jarvis with an adaptable personality. The traitor was siding more and more with his new residents.

Speaking of his new residents, Tony had gathered bits and pieces on all of them. He told himself that (at first) it was because he knew they had issues with the team; Natasha still held a small fear of the Other Guy, Bruce was wary of Natasha because of it and of the Other Guy making an appearance and destroying the tower – hence why he limited interactions with the rest of the team for a few days. Thor was rarely around, shuffling between the tower, Jane’s place and Asgard. Steve was very private, and Tony had seen his files, had seen the SHIELD files he had left out by accident; grieving over losing someone from 70 years ago was something Tony would never understand but he knew well enough to not purposefully joke about certain topics. But _this_ was not one of those. Well, sex was always touchy with Steve but Tony was shocked that it was _Natasha_ of all people that he listened and to and took to bed with Clint. How did Capsicle, the 90 year old virgin, the fondue-blushing man bed The Black Widow before him?

This was where Tony’s mind reverted back to a child – he had seen her first and the constant flirting (that Tony refused to see as one way) . . . but even Tony had seen the truth in that. She was The Black Widow, deadly, hot, everything a man might want, and he wanted her because she was the thrill. He’d drunkenly admitted it to Pepper one night and she had smacked over the back of head and told him that if “Tasha” didn’t kill him first, she would. Tony thought it was because they were dating but turns out she had known about Clint and Natasha all along, and had told him that “the thrill of the Black Widow” didn’t only affect men. She just smirked at him as his drunken brain slowly pieced together what she had meant.

He had seen the video, the hallway, the elevator, everything. He had watched them go into the room and none of them had come out yet. That was why Tony was checking the cameras in the first place. No one was brave enough to go knocking so Tony figured ‘why not check the cameras, see if they left the building or something’ since Jarvis had responded with the typical ‘I have been ordered to not reveal their location at the present time’. Natasha had that as her default-Jarvis setting. Traitor.

So his actions were purely innocent, and it wasn’t his fault that the major public display of affection going on had caused his thoughts to drift down a dirtier path.

But then he realised. He had lost. Lost a bet with himself and Clint and Natasha, but they didn’t exactly know that. Tony had wanted to be the one to help Steve adjust to the new world. He had taught him email and the important bits of the internet. Steve hadn’t appreciated that. Maybe he had scared Steve off.

Could he say that his intentions were pure? Introduce him to the hard stuff first, so that everything else seems better in comparison. Maybe that’s what attracted him to those two.

Everyone had noticed. It wasn’t just sex or lust with them. There was passion and romance, and if Natasha believed that she said, then they were children. Even Tony had to admit that they were the epitome of passion and romance and love, a perfect relationship, considering their workplace. They proved that it could work; that Agents could juggle personal and professional lives if their partner was also an Agent.

 

oOo

 

As he locked up the security room, he saw a flash of red. Steve’s jacket.

“Hey, Cap, where you going? I thought you were staying in?” he yelled.

“Ah I’m going to that club we went to before.” Steve answered, and Tony was surprised to see that he wasn’t blushing and was more confused as to why Tony had asked.

“The club? Are you sure? Did you hit your head or something? Do you have a date?”

“Yes, and I’m sure, and no to the last two.” He replied smoothly.

“No date? So where’d this confidence come from, Cap?”

“Had some help from a bird and spider.” Still no blush and Tony could see that he didn’t care if he knew who he was referring to.

“Um, have fun then, Steve.”

Steve smiled at that and tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He looked like the adorable teenage boy going on his first date all by himself, except in this case there was no date, not yet.

“Thanks, Tony. Have a good night.”

He left, smile still on his face, and a bounce in his step. That was not Captain America that had gone, it was scrawny Steve Rogers, who had found the confidence he needed to pursue the 21st century and all its glory.

 

oOo

 

“Why did you just give me $20?” Clint asked, looking at the note in his hand and the genius before him.

Natasha looked up from the sparring mat, confused. They had sparred for 2 hours straight, leaving both assassins sweaty and their clothes sticking to them. Tony had found them tangled in what he’d thought was definitely _not_ a position used in sparring, but then again he’d seen Natasha bend at all sorts of angles to slip into small spots or under lasers. The only difference was the clothes still being worn by the two.

“You won my bet.”

“What bet?” Natasha asked, “That I’d kick his ass again.” Natasha smirked and stuck out her tongue at Clint.

“Who could get Steve to adjust better.” He waved his hand around, “It was a personal bet on whether you could or I could. You obviously won, he’s out at the club and from his latest text, thanks for beating me to that too, he said he won’t be home till tomorrow.”

“That’s good. But we can’t take the money.” Clint told him.

“Yes, you have to because I lost, and despite what people think of me I keep promises. Even ones made in my head unaware to anyone else. Just take the money. Go buy little miss ninja an ice cream or something. I’m gonna got find Bruce, get back to the lab, if you need me.”

Once Tony had gone and the door shut, Clint spoke.

“Free ice cream, no Steve, Tony or Bruce. Wanna make a nest of blankets in the theatre and browse Tony’s film library?”

“Ooh date night on a Thursday.” She beamed at the thought. Date night was reserved for Sundays, the day Fury had allocated to be their ‘there’s no paperwork, so go home and be normal for once’ day.

“Steve’s having his first date night, pretty sure Tony and Bruce are having geek-gasms over whatever new toy they’ve built. Why can’t we?”

“Which one has doors that lock?” Nat asked, giving him a sly smile. “Just in case.”

“Hey Jarvis?” Clint asked the A.I.

“The theatre on the 19th floor has lockable doors.” The A.I. answered precisely.

“The deli around the corner has ice cream?”

“You get the ice cream, I’ll grab the blankets.” Natasha told him as they made their way out.

Thursday became their favourite date night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The start was inspired by a review from KennaWynters (ff.net) about being a fly on the wall at the implied ending of Bluff, and I changed it a lot from the idea due to some nasty reviews but credit should be given no matter what, so thank you :D

**Author's Note:**

> I like the idea that Nat and Clint would help Steve with the whole idea of sex, but I don’t really like how this turned out, but I felt really bad for not updating sooner so I hope you enjoyed it anyway :D  
> I’ve got about 7 more of oneshot ideas written down so there will be more :D


End file.
